an intelligent conversation
by the red feather
Summary: Seto and Isis have an argument about...what else? Destiny. slight seto/isis.


This oneshot is a SetoIsis thing that popped into my head the other day when I was working on a school assignment involving famous quotes. I ran into a collection of quotes having to do with destiny and it came to me. The whole thing was written in a little under twenty minutes, a new record for me. I hope you like it (and please don't flame me for the ever-so-slight SetoIsis. If you hate the pairing, don't read it. The hint is barely there anyways.) Oh, and for fellow dubbies such as myself, Isis equals Ishizu. There ya go. R&R!

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_Welcome to your automated answering machine. You have chosen to check your messages. As of now you have one message. Playing message one. –beep-_

_I know you are there, Seto Kaiba. This is Isis Ishtar, and you cannot run any longer. Meet me at the museum at five o 'clock. I need to speak to you. If you do not come I will continue to call you and haunt you until the end of your days–as I've said before. Destiny cannot be avoided, Kaiba. –beep-_

Seto Kaiba switched off his message machine. "That woman's picked up some of her brother's habits." he muttered, massaging his temples and packing up his things. Because Isis would make good on her promise. Oh yes. He learned that the hard way. _Stupid woman and her stupid destiny._ he thought as he stared aimlessly out the window, glaring at the constant raindrops, as if blaming them for his discomfort. Isis had been harassing him for months now. It was time to put a stop to all this Egyptian magic nonsense.

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Isis stared at the tablet on the wall before her, fuming silently. _I swear to Ra, if that…that…ugh, I don't even have a name for the sort of person Kaiba is being. How one can refuse to accept destiny…I don't understand it! Excluding Malik, of course…I won't even go there._ Footsteps halted her thoughts for the time being. She turned to see the object of her silent rage standing before her, soaking wet and very obviously ticked off. Trying to suppress a giggle, the Egyptian woman took a step towards Kaiba.

"You're late." She remarked casually.

"If you haven't noticed, it's pouring outside." He snapped. "Now what do you want?"

"What is it I always want, Kaiba?" she asked softly, turning back to the stone tablet. "You have an ancient past, carved in stone before you even, yet you refuse to believe. It is my duty to get you to realize that what I speak is truth."

"Truth? What you speak of, Isis, is destiny. I don't believe in destiny. I never have and never will. If that's all you wanted, I'll be leaving." In truth, Kaiba knew very well what she wanted-he just wanted _her_ to leave him alone. Things were so calm and orderly before…before what? Before Yugi beat him? Before Pegasus kidnapped Mokuba and took his soul? Before he did the same to him? When had things stopped being normal?

"Kaiba." Isis's frustratingly calm voice snapped him out of his reverie. "I can't let you leave. You must accept this. A wise man once said "The efforts which we make to escape our destiny only serve to lead us into it."

That struck him, made him stop as he prepared to leave. _Where have I heard that before?_ He thought.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson." said the calm, clear voice again. "You've heard it before, I'm sure."

"Ah, relying on others now, are we?"

"It made you stop, did it not? The wisdom of the past runs deep, Kaiba."

_Two can play at this game._ Kaiba snickered-inwardly, of course. "Well, then, I suppose you've heard that "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves?"

"William Shakespeare. Funny. I wouldn't have pictured you as an English buff." Isis said, only slightly surprised. _Well, if you're going to play dirty…_ "It has also been said that every man has his own destiny; the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him."

"Ah, but "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." He countered with a self-assured smirk. "Henry Miller was wrong."

"There is no such thing as chance; and what seems to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny." Friedrich Schiller." Isis was trying desperately not to crack and say something utterly childish. Her thoughts were currently running along the lines of _take that, you-_

"We write our own destiny. We become what we do."

_Where in Ra's name did Chiang Kai-shek come from? _Isis wondered, searching for a comeback. _Where does he find these things? _"Your destiny is not always the one you seek, but always the one that finds you." She retorted after a few second's silence.

"Control your destiny or someone else will." Kaiba shot back just as quickly.

"Fate leads the willing, and drags the reluctant."

"It's choice–not chance–that determines your destiny."

"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it."

"He who waits upon fortune is never sure of a dinner."

"Destiny is something we've invented because we can't stand the fact that everything that happens is accidental."

_Ouch._ "Touché. However, it's also been said that if you can't change your fate….change your attitude."

"Hmph. It's not what happens to you; it's what you do about it that makes a difference." Kaiba said.

"A person must stand very tall to see their own fate." Isis replied. A pregnant pause followed in which the two couldn't seem to wrench their eyes from each other's gaze, until, suddenly…Isis burst out laughing.

Kaiba was startled, to say the least. "Um, excuse me?" he said with audible disgust and confusion. "What are you doing?"

"I'm laughing, you great idiot." The Egyptian girl said, still doubled over in mirth. She was almost crying now, she was laughing so hard. "I'm sorry…but…you're just so tall! You know…a…person…must stand very tall….to see their own fate." She was almost having difficulty breathing now. Slowly, she wiped to tears from her eyes and composed herself. "Apologies, Kaiba. I haven't had a real intelligent conversation in ages. Thank you." She gave him a slight bow and a brilliant smile, then, to his utter surprise and amazement, leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek. Running to the door with that maddening grin still on her face, she spouted off one last piece.

"If you do not create your destiny, you will have your fate inflicted upon you."

And with that, she dashed off into the hall.

A hand still raised to his cheek, Kaiba pondered her last words…and actions, of course. As he gathered his briefcase and pulled his ever-present trenchcoat closer to his body, heading for the door of the museum and the rain, he continued to think. _An intelligent conversation, hmm?_ _Perhaps I could give this another shot._

_Maybe._

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I dare you to try and figure out that last quote. I dare you. I'm still not quite sure what it means…hee hee. "If you do not create you destiny, you will have your fate inflicted upon you." It's a double-edged sword. Anyways, almost all of their argument is a collection of quotes from various people, some famous, others less-known. I think that Isis is probably a very intelligent and well-informed person that would be the most likely to know these little pieces of random information. And Seto…well, he's a genius, by academic standards, if nothing else. He can be pretty stupid when it comes to other things (like people. XD) Please R&R, thanks for reading!


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